Sitting Down with Princess Padmaja Kumari Mewar

At first glance, Princess Padmaja Kumari Mewar of Udaipur, who was sitting in a small office at New York City’s Indian Consulate last week, looked like a traditional Indian royal—the 28-year-old was wearing an ornate green-and-gold kameez tunic and fitted white legging-like churidar trousers. And then I noticed her outfit’s modern touches: chunky gold heels, bright-red nail polish, and blinding right-ring-finger bling. It turns out Padmaja’s life is a balance of these kinds of opposites—past and present, East and West, me and we.

“You can’t just think of yourself as an individual,” Padmaja says regarding her royal status. “It’s not just about ‘I, me, myself.’ I don’t think I’ve ever thought like that.”

The Princess hails from the House of Mewar, the world’s longest-serving dynasty. It was founded in 734 A.D. by the royal Bappa Rawal, who established himself as the leader of Mewar, a region that was integrated into the Indian state of Rajasthan upon India’s independence, in 1947. For 76 generations, the head of the Mewar family—whose lineage goes back to Rawal—has been the “custodian” of Mewar. The maharaja (Indian king) isn’t considered a ruler, but rather a “trustee” on behalf of Sri Eklingji, a manifestation of the Hindu god Lord Silva.

This complex history lends itself to rich customs within the House of Mewar, which isn’t surprising considering that Indian culture thrives on tradition.“Our traditions go through whole segments of everything we do in Rajastan, from our cuisines, to our festivals, to what we wear, to our dialect,” says Padmaja, who is based in Udaipur. “For example: our cuisine. Every region in India is known for and has a different cuisine, but it has to do with the region it's in. At the end of the day, it adds a lot of diversity within the country.” And then there is jewelry. “Things get passed on from generation to generation, so it’s a great pride and joy for us to be able to wear something that our grandmothers and mothers wore.”

But the emphasis on the past doesn’t mean that the Mewar royals aren’t forward-looking. Padmaja’s father, H.R.H. Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar, who succeeded into custodianship in 1984, has been instrumental in keeping the House relevant today, taking over where his father, Bhagwat Singh Mewar, left off with various ventures.

“I think it’s important to know that we are extremely professional,” says Padmaja, who has an international-relations degree from Tulane University, in New Orleans, and who held down jobs in New York City from 2003 to 2006, first on Wall Street, then with the Four Seasons. “There’s a huge corporate and philanthropic side to what we do. I think all of these responsibilities are taken extremely seriously, which some people may be aware of and some not as much.”

On the business side of things, the family operates H.R.H. Group of Hotels, India’s only chain of palace hotels and resorts. Padmaja works in business development for the company, which converts royal properties—among them, the Shiv Niwas Palace, in Udaipur, which was built during the reign of Maharana Feteh Singh in the early 20th century, and the Gajner Palace, near Bikaner, which was used as a hunting resort during the days of the British Raj—into vacation spots.

But hotels are only a small portion of the family’s business.

“It really is an even balance between what we do in regard to the commercial and not-for-profit segments,” the Princess says, pointing out that the family also operates foundations, museums, trusts, and charities.

“I may be focusing and working professionally with regard to the hotel aspect of the business,” she continues, “but we, of course, have lots of social obligations and engagements.” Which is how she found herself in New York City last week.

“I’m here for the Children Hope India event,” she said, referring to the organization that seeks to help India’s impoverished children, whether it’s funding a health clinic in a Calcutta slums or providing a computer and science lab in a Mumbai school. The annual event, which this year honored A. J. and Poonam Khubani of the TeleBrands company, is probably the most prestigious event in the Indian community in the United States.

“I spent about three years in New York before I returned home,” Padmaja says. “In a certain way New York is familiar ground for me. I’m glad to be here for the C.H.I. event, and anything else that comes up would be connecting with old friends, really.” Old friends and New York. Yet another dichotomy in the life of the Princess of Rajasthan.